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Red Sox: Top five MLB September collapses prove playoffs are still possible

By Sean Penney

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 18: Manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox looks on from the dugout during Game Five of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on October 18, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 18: Manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox looks on from the dugout during Game Five of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on October 18, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 31: The Phillie Phanatic performs in the seventh inning during a game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 31, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Nationals won 5-1. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 31: The Phillie Phanatic performs in the seventh inning during a game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 31, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Nationals won 5-1. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

1964 Phillies

The Philadephia Phillies held a 6.5 game lead with 12 games remaining in the 1964 season, only to miss out on the National League pennant by finishing one game behind the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Philadelphia had a chance to clinch the pennant if they could sweep the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series at home. Instead, they got swept by the Reds. The first game of the series saw Chico Ruiz steal home for the game’s only run. Phillies fans have come to refer to the “Curse of Chico Ruiz” as the beginning of their downfall.

The Phillies would end up losing 10 in a row, culminating in a three-game sweep at the hands of a Cardinals team that surpassed them for the pennant. Philadelphia would win their final two games to move into a second-place tie with Cincinnati but it was too little, too late.

The “Phold” would become a tragic low point for the franchise that would haunt them until they finally won a World Series in 1980.

These were the days before division champions and long before the Wild Card. The top team in each league advanced to the World Series. The Red Sox have more paths to the postseason under the current system. If the Phillies coughed up the only available playoff spot when they had a 6.5 game lead with 12 games remaining, surely it’s not impossible for Boston to overcome the same deficit with two Wild Card spots to aim for and 22 games left.

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